March of the Penguins (G, 2005)

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS is an account of the grueling annual trek made by Emperor penguins. While temperatures reach some 80 degrees below zero, these flightless birds trundle across the tundra, walking and sometimes sliding on their bellies over some 70 miles, from the shore to an inland plain. Here they mate, gestate, and lay eggs, after which the males take over to protect the eggs while the females head back to the sea to eat fish and do their best to avoid hungry sea lions. The females then head back to the plain where reunited couples nurture adorable fuzzy little hatchlings until they are able to walk back to shore.

The French language version of Luc Jacquet's March of the Penguins reportedly featured voices for individual penguins, articulating joy and sadness. The U.S. release has Morgan Freeman narrating, with a script that occasionally overreaches: "It's a story of survival, a story of life over death. It's a story about love." You see the penguins endure any number of hardships, look charming or awkward as they waddle, and even remarkably graceful when they crane their necks over one another or exchange gentle, seemingly loving beak-taps.

Young children might be alarmed at several scenes that underline the severity of conditions facing the penguins. They endure freezing temperatures, wind, and blizzards by gathering into a huge group. Some starve, some lose their eggs from under the protective folds of a mother or father's body and watch as the eggs crack in the instant cold, and still others (especially babies) are assaulted by predators.